So I finally made it out to shoot a handful of types of premium self defense rounds in 357 Sig. The depth of approximetly 14" of wet pack was packed tightly into a five gallon bucket and then soaked for around 60 hrs (first trip to go shoot got postponed).

I tried to fire 2 rounds of each into the wet pack however I stopped before firing the 2nd example of the last two rounds because I ran out of places I figured were undamaged from previous shots.

If you take a look at the Corbon JHP 125gr results... I found it interesting that the jacket did separate from the core and there were lead and petal fragments through the wound path. More interesting to me though was that the large ugly piece of jacket was recovered at 13" while the core penetrated the wetpack/5 gallon bucket and was stopped by a 3/4" piece of wood behind it. The core was found laying between the two. This leads me to believe the core likely didn't separate from the jacket until sufficient penetration was reached.

Of other interesting things I saw.... I was surprised at the results of the both gold dots loads. I'll wait to post the pics to let you all see what I'm taking about. I honestly expected them to be the one of the most consistent with uniform expansion from the reputation they carry. But that wasn't the case. However... I will say... They still looked like a nasty piece of copper/lead moving at 850+mph and rotating to get hit with.

One of the Hst's rounds I shot did come into contact with the side of the bucket and I believe may have effected its total penetration as the other HST penetrated farther as did all other ammo fired. I can say for a non-Bonded bullet and expanding so agressively... these things hold together great from this and other testing.

Also... Ive shot into wet-pack using a five gallon bucket twice now with 357 sig. So far... Ive found the pressure/energy from the first round fired cracks the back of the bucket even though the wet-pack wasn't penetrated completely. I'm curious as to if others here have seen this with other calibers or if this may be a cue of the extra energy the 357sig dumps over other common calibers. Guess I need to get my brother's 40 next time and see. Maybe bring someone with a nine and or 45 also.

Just for kicks, some time throw some beef or pork ribs and maybe a leg bone in with your wet pack or lab jello - just as a wrinkle in your test procedures. I'm really interested in seeing more of the random behavior of pistol bullets, since their behavior in controlled media has been pretty well defined.

November 17th, 2012, 10:45 PM

Rawah

Thanks Lyodbraun. I appreciate it and have enjoyed your tests and reviews also. Hopefully I can get into using gel at some point in the future.

Gasmitty. I will accept that challenge. I've use "dog bones" aka cattle bones from the butcher in testing some non-expanding rounds for defense against large game like bear and moose. Pork or beef ribs do sound like a better example to use in this case though. Thanks for the suggestion.

November 19th, 2012, 02:31 PM

clarkston_cz

Some people like the 125 gr. Sierra bullet as it mimics the legendary 125 gr. .357 Magnum's tendency to fragment.

Rapid energy dump with secondary missiles=Pretty Nasty!

I can clearly see why some people are buying HST, even though I think the Barnes/DPX is a better bullet design.

November 19th, 2012, 03:32 PM

oneshot

I've got Both GD loads, and the HST.
Wheres all this over-penetration we all kept hearing about with this load/caliber?
Every test I see and hear about pretty much mimics this result.
No wild stories of the bullet traveling forever, into the next stratosphere after going through 20-some inches of medium.
Sounds to me like somebody, for whatever reason was trying to demonize this round.

After seeing the pic's and reading the story of the member here who inadverdently shot himself in the leg with his .357 sig Glock, as well as other documentation
this only reinforces my belief in this caliber, as the very nasty round it is.

Thanks for testing .

November 19th, 2012, 04:15 PM

ghost tracker

Good stuff, Thank You! Reports from the street are harder to obtain 'cause the shootee seldom feels, uh...chatty. :image035:

November 19th, 2012, 05:38 PM

Rawah

5 Attachment(s)

You guys are welcome. What I think is interesting to note... is how far the petals peeled back on each of all the bullets. I would imagine this is why the 6 petal gold dot is known to be a better penetrator and the 5 petal a better expander. It also appear the lead between the two gold dots is different also by appearance at least...

I find the next pics to really give some interesting views of the differences and similarities between the bullets.

Good stuff, Thank You! Reports from the street are harder to obtain 'cause the shootee seldom feels, uh...chatty. :image035:

As long as you don't ask for all my favorite fishing and camping spots.... we will be fine....:haha:

November 19th, 2012, 07:49 PM

clarkston_cz

BY most information out on the net, the Gold Dots work very well in actual shootings..
with the spent rounds being found in the far side of the suspect's body or clothing.

Sometimes the Gold Dots are found outside of the clothing but not by much.

The .357 SIG gives you a cartridge that has superior tactical penetration over most any
police or cww caliber, but also a dynamic stopper without excessive penetration on soft targets.

No bullet is a death ray- but the .357 SIG comes close to being the ideal combination of punching
through cars and stopping bad guys cold in their tracks.

December 7th, 2012, 10:20 AM

Rawah

2 Attachment(s)

I wanted to share some pictures of some of these rounds that gives an idea of what maximum expansion was. I took pliers and tried to bend the petals back to around 90 degrees. I didn't do the PDX1 because I only had one recovered. Even though it didn't have a recovered expansion comparable to the hst.... the length of the petals folded back tell me that maximum expansion was good...

We know that with the same weight bullets traveling at similar speeds.... frontal area is a huge determining factor of penetration...

Wheres all this over-penetration we all kept hearing about with this load/caliber?
Every test I see and hear about pretty much mimics this result.
No wild stories of the bullet traveling forever, into the next stratosphere after going through 20-some inches of medium.